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I load mine with only enough to work the water depth and a little extra. If you are working 10 feet of water, there is no reason to have 200 feet of line on. Plenty of reasons not to. Tie a barrel swivel on the end and you can adjust your all-important leader to the specific situation.
im sorry I should of been more specific , I meant how much of the Mason line 30 pound , 50 yds or more? I am in agreement that the spool should be filled to capacity to facilitate it's smooth operation and it is worth the effort to do so. One trick i know for getting the exact amount of backing on the spool is to fill another identical reel in reverse. tie your leader to your dacron and then wrap it onto the other spool leader first until the backing is within 1/8 inch of the spool. Then you wrap it back onto the tip up to have it be the perfect length without any guessing.
The split shot rig is falling out of favor with me. I feel that a slip sinker will offer less resistance weather offered suspended or on bottom. My latest idea is to go with a slip sinker on bottom with a floating jig on the leader to get it up in the strike zone. If you use a swivel then you can rig up some pre-made leaders in all of the popular line sizes and with different hooks or jigs. This type of preparation can give you more time to fish out there if you spend less time rigging. The same leaders can be used for your other rigs as well.
OK guys I bought the last of my tip ups and starting to rig them up for walleye , I want to use 30# test mason braided line ,8lb leader ,split shot and maybe a #8 treble hook, does this sound correct to you all ? also how much line should/could I put on ? any thoughts I'm open to try anything as long as its legal in Wisconsin and catches me a walleye thanks a lot guys!!
How come alot of the tip-up lines have only 25yds on their spools in the local stores where I live, I still need to put line on my 2 homemade traps that I built tis summer, I will not fish over 25ft of water, and most of the time probably 10ft, 25yds enough for me? Will mainly be pike fishing. Any help, well appreciated for this new tip-up user. Smitty